Canadian church leaders urge nuclear disarmament and ballistic missile control.15 March 2004 Our help is in the name of the Lord ... who made heaven and earth.... Psalm 124:8 Dear Mr. Prime Minister: We write to urge you to guide Canada toward an intensified commitment to nuclear disarmament and binding controls over ballistic missiles as the most effective and practical means of working for the safety and protection of Canadians. Strategic ballistic missile defence systems, we believe, can never satisfy the deep human yearning for immunity from nuclear terror. Nuclear Weapons Nuclear weapons promise destruction so complete that only the language of human annihilation hints at the potential catastrophe that lurks in the 30,000 nuclear weapons still threatening this world. Tragically and ironically, having committed the folly of building these weapons in the name of security, humankind now scours technology and science for ways to avoid the devastating insecurity that the splitting atom promises. Proposed Security solutions like ballistic missile defence fail to counter the nuclear threat and precipitate further insecurities. This is illustrated by current United States BMD BMD In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Bermudian Dollar. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. initiatives: Expenditure of US$200 billion over the past 50 years has led to a meagre result--a proposed system that is designed to address only a handful of the 1000-plus nuclear tipped strategic missiles capable of striking North America. Even this minimal system lacks operationally tested capability. Russia and China are moving to counter any defensive capabilities that the proposed system might one day deliver, and the United States continues to develop new nuclear weapon designs and threatens to resume nuclear testing. This sets the stage for a dangerous and cyclical defence-versus-offence dynamic in the strategic environment. We deplore the ongoing militarization mil·i·ta·rize tr.v. mil·i·ta·rized, mil·i·ta·riz·ing, mil·i·ta·riz·es 1. To equip or train for war. 2. To imbue with militarism. 3. To adopt for use by or in the military. of relationships and continuing nuclear arms competition this entails. In this context, we repeat our declaration that "inasmuch as we are called to share in God's redemptive purpose and to restore the covenant of love and blessing between God and His creation, we are called also to pursue national policies which seek to reduce, and ultimately to eliminate, our reliance on the destructive power of nuclear weapons for advancing the national interest." (Canadian church leaders letter presented to the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Prime Minister on December 14, 1982.) Weaponization of Space The Pentagon itself lacks confidence that the ground-based, mid-course interception system that Canada is considering supporting can ever be made to work, and so it pursues a space-based element that violates an overwhelming global consensus against the weaponization of space. In its current budget request the Pentagon pledges to begin development of a space-based weapons test bed in 2005 and plans deployment and space-based testing beginning in 2012. We note with dismay that in the face of this explicit US intention to make space-based weapons an integral part of ballistic missile defence, Defence Minister David Pratt's 15 January 2004 letter to the US Defence Secretary makes no reference to Canada's commitment to preventing the weaponization of space. The weaponization of space and related BMD developments are hollow attempts at technical solutions that only intensify the nuclear threat. Prime Minister, the responsibility to protect Canadians and all humankind from the threat of nuclear terror is a grave and urgent imperative, and we urge you to re-emphasize the historic position of successive Canadian Governments that "the only sustainable strategy for the future is the elimination of nuclear weapons entirely. The only realistic objective for the international community is progressive reduction of the existing number of nuclear weapons leading to their elimination." (Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation: Advancing Canadian Objectives, Government Statement. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, April 19, 1999.) Verifiable Compliance It is only through a redoubled commitment to reduce existing nuclear arsenals and to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and strategic range ballistic missiles that our safety can be enhanced. Recent promising developments related to Iranian and Libyan willingness to eschew nuclear weapons development and to commit their nuclear facilities to international inspections point the way forward. Diplomacy to bring North Korea back into verified compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) officially Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons International agreement intended to prevent the spread of nuclear technology. It was signed by the U.S. must be part of the "sustainable strategy" that, as referred to above, the Government of Canada The Government of Canada is the federal government of Canada. The powers and structure of the federal government are set out in the Constitution of Canada. In modern Canadian use, the term "government" (or "federal government") refers broadly to the cabinet of the day and promotes. A World Free from Fear and Free from Want It has been the witness of Canadian churches to successive Prime Ministers that the possession, use, or threat to use nuclear weapons can never be understood to be within God's plan for creation. The extraordinary squandering of resources in the vain pursuit of technological immunity from nuclear weapons, especially while new weapons and new nuclear use strategies are still being introduced, is itself an offence against the will of the Creator. There are urgent worldwide human security crises in health care and the HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome pandemic, in small arms proliferation Small arms proliferation is a term used by organizations and individuals advocating the control of small arms and their trade. Users of the term have notably included Kofi Annan, ex-Secretary-General of the United Nations. and spreading violence, in entrenched en·trench also in·trench v. en·trenched, en·trench·ing, en·trench·es v.tr. 1. To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending. 2. poverty, in human rights violations. As a workable alternative to wasting resources on unworkable strategic missile defence schemes, we call on the Canadian government to fulfil its public promise to achieve the Millennium Development Goals “MDG” redirects here. For other uses, see MDG (disambiguation). The Millennium Development Goals are eight goals that 192 United Nations member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015. and so halve absolute global poverty by 2015. We are called then to a vision of a world free from fear and free from want--a world where people live in peace, confident their basic needs will be met. Canada should pursue security according to this vision. What We Must Do We call on you to make it clear to Canadians that this country has never advocated BMD or space weapons as a credible means of dealing with a strategic missile borne nuclear threat. Furthermore we urge your government to unequivocally reject the expensive futility of ballistic missile defence. We call on you to focus on the more realistic pursuit of diplomacy and verification technology to mitigate the missile threat, and further, to encourage the United States to do the same. The reallocation of the billions now squandered on strategic ballistic missile defence could achieve works of wonder to the benefit and sustainable security of all humanity. We praise our Creator for the abundant life which [is] granted to us in this land, we pledge ourselves to support the pursuit of justice and equity in all lands and we commit ourselves to work toward the removal of the arsenals of destruction which frustrate the search for justice and which threaten life itself, in our land and throughout the world. (Canadian church leaders letter presented to the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Prime Minister on December 14, 1982.) Please be assured of our prayers and support as you undertake to fulfill your important responsibilities. May God's own Spirit light your path. You must put my laws and customs into practice; you must keep them, practice them; and so you shall be secure in your possession of the land. The land will give its fruit, you will eat your fill and live in security. Leviticus 25:18-19 This letter was signed by: The Most. Rev. David Crawley Acting Primate The Anglican Church of Canada His Grace Bishop Baghrat Galstanyan Primate Armenian Holy Apostolic Church, Canadian Diocese The Rev. Dr. Kenneth Bellous Executive Minister Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec (BCOQ) - the oldest union of Baptist churches in central Canada. In 1880 a "Baptist Union of Canada" was formed. Since the churches were located chiefly in the central provinces, the name was changed in 1888 to its present "Baptist The Right Rev. Maurice Hicks General Superintendent British Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784. Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke were the first bishops. The Most Rev. Brendan M. O'Brien Archbishop of St. John's President Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops Presiding Clerk Richard McCutcheon Canadian Yearly Meeting Canadian Yearly Meeting is a body of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), with approximately 1200 members in Canada and border areas of the United States. Its offices are located in Ottawa. of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) The Rev. Rick Myer Moderator Christian Church (Disciples of Christ Disciples of Christ: see Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Disciples of Christ Group of U.S. Protestant churches that originated in the frontier revivals of the early 19th century. ) in Canada The Rev. William F. Veenstra Canadian Ministries Director Christian Reformed Church Christian Reformed Church, denomination formed after the secession of a group from the Reformed Church in America in 1857. Colonists from Holland who began settling in Michigan in 1846 generally became members of the Reformed (Dutch) church there. in North America--Canada Fr. Marcos Marcos Protopriest Coptic Orthodox Church in Canada The immigration of the Copts to Canada might have started as early as the late 1950s. Starting in the 1970s, Canada has been receiving a greater number of these immigrants, and the number of Coptic immigrants into Canada has been growing ever since. The Rev. Fr. Messale Engeda Presiding Priest Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (in transliterated Amharic:Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan) is an Oriental Orthodox church in Ethiopia that was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, when it was granted its own Patriarch by Coptic Orthodox Pope of of Canada The Rev. Raymond Schultz National Bishop Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) (French: Eglise Evangelique Lutherienne au Canada) is Canada's largest Lutheran denomination, with 182,077 baptized members in 624 congregations. Metropolitan Sotirios Archbishop Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada) Henry Krause Moderator Mennonite Church Canada Mennonite Church Canada is the conference of Mennonites in Canada, with head offices in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The first Mennonites in Canada arrived from Pennsylvania in 1786. The Right Rev. Seraphim seraphim six-winged angels of the highest order, distinguished by their zeal and love. [O.T.: Isaiah 6:2; Benét, 915] See : Angel Bishop of Ottawa and Canada Archdiocese of Canada of the Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church in North America. Its current primate is Metropolitan Herman (Swaiko), who was elected in 2002. The Church's headquarters are located in Syosset, New York. The Very Rev. Anthony Nikolic Polish National Catholic Church The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) is a Christian church founded and based in the United States by Polish-Americans who were Roman Catholic. However, the PNCC is today not in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, and differs with it theologically in several of Canada The Rev. P. Alex McDonald Moderator, 129th General Assembly The Presbyterian Church in Canada The Presbyterian Church in Canada is the name of a Protestant Christian church, of presbyterian and reformed theology and polity, serving in Canada under this name since 1875, although the United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. The Rev. Siebrand Wilts Clerk Regional Synod of Canada--Reformed Church in America M. Christine MacMillan Commissioner Territorial Commander The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory Metropolitan Archbishop Wasyly (Fedak) Primate Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (UOCC) is an Eastern Orthodox Church in Canada, primarily serving Ukrainian Canadians. Its former name was the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada (UGOC). The Right Rev. Peter Short Moderator United Church of Canada United Church of Canada, Protestant denomination formed in 1925 by the union of the Methodist, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches in Canada. A large number of Presbyterian congregations, however, remain outside the union. |
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